Multicolor capability is an important function for display applications which can allow larger amount of high bit density information to be displayed more effectively than by switching on and off of one color. The existing color displays such as shadow mask cathode ray tubes (CRTs) and color gas panels typically trade resolution for color. This is not a very satisfactory trade for computer terminal displays which are generally used for viewing at close distance. An exception is the penetration CRT which, in principle, does not lose resolution while gaining color. However, this display has two serious problems, i.e., speed limitation (its high voltage switching is slow) and reliability (reliability of phosphor barrier layer is troublesome).
It is also desirable in high information content displays to have internal memory in addition to color capability. The combination of both memory and color are not easily achievable especially with high resolution. The present invention provides an electroluminescent display with both internal memory and multicolor capabilities with high resolution and beneficial addressing speed capability.